GeForce 9800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 550 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 850 MHz on this specific card. It features 96 SPUs along with 32 TAUs and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 36 Watts (52%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB is 6% quicker than the GeForce GT 340 1GB overall, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GT 512MB will be much (more or less 91%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 16000 (91%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB is superior to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, by far. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (118%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the max amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.